The 2024 Tilli 10k, hosted by West Fife’s PH Racing Club, took place on Sunday 29th December, in the shadow of the beautiful Ochil Hills. The course is traffic free and follows the Devon Way cycle path, extending from Tillicoultry to Dollar and back. Registration was smooth and well organised, with a choice of a swanky beer or fancy soft drink for the race recovery! It was a fresh, blustery morning but the rain thankfully held off for the race. The first two miles were busy before the field stretched out, with a bit of shelter from the westerly wind. After the turn in Dollar, the headwind kicked in all the way back to Tillicoultry, but with an overall elevation gain of only 91ft, it was thankfully a fairly flat course! It’s a great event and there was an excellent turnout of 21 Bellas, with our results as follow: Tony Connelly (32:16), Calum Borthwick (33:06), Bryan Mulgrew (35:07), David Jarrett (36:24 PB), Stephen McQuade (36:52), Ryan Macready (38:16), Kelly Taylor (38:36), Dean Dempsey (40:49), Colin Hughes (40:55, 3rd MV60-65), Michael Daniel Rice (41:15), Cathy Wood (43:00), Marty Campbell (43:58), Ross Wood (44:58), Lauren Rice (45:11), Tom Ferris (46:04), Anne Campbell (46:41), Kevin Queenan (48:29), Joni Lindsay (49:36), Laura Wilkinson (50:31), Louise Gray (57:10), Wallace Gray (1:02:09). Well done everyone, and enjoy the beer! #Tilli10k
Race Report
It was a busy race weekend in the midst of 10k season with over 60 Road Runners competing around the country. Firstly, it was the excellent Brian Goodwin Memorial 10k on Friday 7th June, hosted by our Bellahouston Harrier friends. Although there was some sunshine, it was a cold blustery evening around Pollok Park. Some 25 Road Runners tackled the course with an incredibly strong field, headed by local Olympian, Callum Hawkins, who won the race in 29:45. Tony Connelly (32:26, 10th), Calum Borthwick (33:25) & Kenny Osborne (34:39) led our gents home. Katie Blackett (44:23), Kirsty MacFarlane (44:42, PB ) & Charlotte Parkinson (47:48) were our top three ladies. A great run by Lucy Mackay (54:43) saw her take 1st V55. There were numerous PBs for our members too who celebrated with the traditional Goodwin burger and beer. On Sunday 9th June, the 10k racing moved to a sunny Kilmarnock for the increasingly popular ‘Roon the Toon‘ event. Over 1,800 started the race with 22 Bellas among them. Our top 3 gents were Paul McNairn (35:59, 3rd V40), Craig Ross (36:30) & Mark Young (36:38). For the ladies it was Deborah Gray (39:16, 1st V50), Emer Campbell (39:22, 3rd V40, PB) & Anne Campbell (46:03). This meant that our gents and ladies both took silver in the team competition! Connoisseurs of the longer events were out in force too with the ever impressive Colin Hughes putting in another great performance to win V60 (1:27:37) at the Isle of Skye Half Marathon on Saturday 8th June, finishing 17th overall and beating all of the V50s in the process! At the Strathearn Marathon on Sunday, Poppy Bowie, making her marathon debut, had an outstanding performance on a challenging course, to finish 7th lady in 3:35:43. And finally, with all this 10k racing on the go, remember that our own Jimmy Irvine 10k will run at Bellahouston Park on Sunday 10th November. Entries are now open at https://www.entrycentral.com/jimmyirvinebella10k
2024 was the 6th running of the 3 race babcock 10k Series, formerly the Polaroid Series. 12th May saw the first race at the Shettleston 10k, Glasgow Green. Over 20 Bellas ran on a lovely warm morning on a fast, flat course. Our first three gents were Tony Connelly 33:01 (6th), Oscar Coetzee 33:36 (10th, 1st V40) & Kenny Osborne 34:58 (11th) with the gents also taking a fantastic mens team gold! For our ladies it was the top trio of Rebekah Russell 37:23 (3rd FSnr), Grainne McGrath 40:20 (11th FSen) & Cathy Wood 43:41 (19th FSen). A great morning of running for all of our Bellas. Next up was Dumbarton on Thursday 23rd May, in entirely different conditions with heavy rain on a more undulating suburban route. 22 hardy Bellas raced, with the top three gents being Oscar Coetzee 32:58 (8th, 1st MV40), Calum Borthwick 33:05 (10th) & Bryan Kerr 34:34 (20th). So two straight MV40 wins for Oscar to help the gents team take bronze! Our ladies first three were Rebekah Russell 36:32 (4th FSen), Poppy Bowie 42:05 (14th FSen) & Alice Howe 51:02 (33rd FSen). So it was onto Helensburgh on Thursday 30th May for the final race of the series. What a contrast in weather from Dumbarton, with lovely Spring sunshine although a brisk headwind for the first half. 23 Bellas ran with our top three gents being Oscar Coetzee 33:15 (8th, 1st MV40), Ross Horgan 33:24 (9th) & Kenny Osborne 34:29 (14th). A clean sweep of MV40 golds for Oscar and team bronze for the gents! Our top three ladies were the formidable Rebekah Russell 36:48 (3rd FSen), Kelly Taylor 39:13 (7th FSen) & Cara Thom 45:11 (22nd FSen). Brilliant running from our ladies to also take team bronze! Helensburgh also served as the Scottish Athletics West District 10k Championship with the team competition rising to four members. With Bryan Mulgrew 35:23 (22nd) our gents were West District team runners-up. Lyndsay Kennedy 48:39 (30th FSnr) was our number four lady meaning West District ladies team 3rd. Congratulations to the outstanding Oscar Coetzee, the overall series and West District MV40 winner, 3rd placed gent overall and 3 team awards. The amazing Rebekah Russell had a fantastic series too, finishing ladies runner-up with two 3rd place FSen finishes as well as Helensburgh team bronze and corresponding West District awards! 11 members completed the full 3 race series with fantastic performances throughout from all of our Bellas. A real purple patch in another great babcock series. Well done everyone! https://babcock10kseries.co.uk/ Images courtesy of Daren Borzynsky
A massive well done to everyone who raced the Allan Scally 5k relays this weekend. What glorious weather for running! Everyone had a blast and there were some terrific times, plus lots of PBs. Wasn’t it wonderful to be racing in Bella teams again. The awesome Deborah Gray won 1st prize in the Ladies V50 race. Our men’s A team were an impressive 8th and the Ladies team finished in 9th place, both in a very strong field. We’re also delighted that a new club men’s 5k record was set by the flying Tony Connelly. Tony smashed the men’s 5k record in a superb time of 15:26. Absolutely amazing Tony, we knew you had it in you!! Well done! Great effort team Bella and it’s an exciting start to our road racing season! Many thanks to Shettleston Harriers for the organisation.
A super 60 Bellas took on the National XC Champs in Falkirk on Saturday . It was a fantastic day again at Callander Park and we assembled one of the largest club squads for this year’s Nationals! A HUGE well done to all our runners with amazing performances all round. Our Ladies team came home in 8th place and the men’s team came home in 11th place – top running team . We’re delighted to see such great enthusiasm for this year’s cross-country races. We topped the day off with a BIG Bella bake off. Indulging in some amazing home baking was a perfect way to celebrate the end of a successful XC season. Thanks to everyone who baked and took part. A special mention needs to go to the six club members who completed all of the cross-country races this season. Our cross-country performances are going from strength to strength. Now it’s on to the road season, and we’re already looking forward to some more team racing in the upcoming road relay races.
What a fantastic day out we all had at the weekend. We’re were there for the West District Cross Country Championships at Balloch Castle . It was terrific to see 42 Bellas racing together again at the first West Champs since 2019! There were wonderful performances across the board and it was especially good to see some club members getting their first taste of cross country racing. To top the day off, our cross country Queen, Cat MacDonald ran a magnificent race to finish a superb 2nd place in the ladies race. Awesome running Cat!! #ProudToBeABella
Bellahouston Road Runners, Bellahouston Harriers and West End Road Runners got together last night, for a fantastic evening of one mile track races at Hutchesons’ Grammar School track. The conditions were ideal which helped produce several great performances and many personal bests. Just as importantly, everyone had a great time running in a real race and socialising afterwards. Thanks to the organisers, all the volunteers and supporters, and of course the runners. Well done everyone! A few pics over on our facebook page post (thanks again to Kevin Queenan for the pics). We’ll update this post with a link to the results in due course. With racing and competition opportunities very limited, we’re excited to be able to showcase the benefits of being in a club, and clubs working together. Hopefully more events like this in near future.
Well done to all 52 Bellas who took part in the Scottish Athletics / Bella club champs 10k virtual event over the weekend!! Another great turnout from members making us the highest participating club again There were some very impressive times recorded by club members over the weekend of racing, however a special shout out to our very own Grant Murphy who WON the event finishing in an amazing time of 32.47!!! Fantastic effort – well done Grant!!! The club is very proud of you!!!!!!!! A big shout out also to Tony Connelly and Steven Lamb taking the 3rd and 4th spot on the leaderboard and securing the team title for Bella! Well done guys!! Thanks once again to everyone for getting involved and representing our amazing club!!! Full results on Scottish Athletics Website: https://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/62638-2/ – Well done to everybody who took part, particularly the other podium placed teams at Greenock Glenpark Harriers (2nd) and Garioch Road Runners (3rd)!
Huge well done to all our Bellas keeping race sharp during lockdown and embracing last weekends Scottish Athletics virtual distance challenge !!! 💜 It was a hot weekend for racing, but that didn’t stop the 57 Road Runners take on the 15/30 min challenge. We were once again the highest participating club in Scotland!! 👏 and we were 1st overall in the main U17 and Above 15min and 30min Combined distance challenge – a whopping 301.97km! Full results over on the Scottish Athletics website. Of course, we were not just racing this weekend…. As a club, we love keeping in touch virtually through various means during lockdown – a firm favourite seems to be getting in front of a camera 💁🏻♂️🎥🤩 We have joined up with our local rivals Bellahouston Harriers💙 to create the 💜BELLA BATON BONANZA💙 . We also miss seeing our competitors at local running events and thought this would be a great way to link in with them and pass a virtual baton during lockdown Enjoy 💜💙
Saturday saw a couple of brilliant results for Bellas. At the Scottish Athletics Inter-District XC, Catriona MacDonald finished 7th overall, and as 3rd team counter, helped the West District secure team silver in the Scottish Athletics Inter-District XC. 🥈 Ciaran Dougherty was also in action, winning the Great Stirling Castle run a 7.3k multi-terrain race taking place earlier in the day, in an impressive 28:29 🥇 Well done to both Catriona and Ciaran!
Well done to everybody who took part at the 2019 National XC Relays in Cumbernauld yesterday! We had a cracking turnout from the club, lovely weather on the whole, and conditions were ideal for the familiar, but always challenging 4k XC circuit around Cumbernauld House Park. The club fielded a total of 10 teams (4 from the Ladies, and 6 from the Men). Some superb performances throughout! We’re delighted to report that our Ladies Masters team of Ann Robin, Louise Ross, and Jane McNeilly secured the Women’s Masters Gold Medal, making it three straight years on the podium in this team competition! Cat Macdonald ran an impressive individual leg in 14:48, 10th fastest on her leg. For the gents, our V50 team worked to take a solid 8th overall in that competition, with excellent runs by Tony McParland, Liam Conway and Gerry Scullion. Some standout individual runs from the gents included a brilliant 14:01 by Andy Campbell anchoring our men’s A team, and an excellent 14:57 from Craig Ross, returning to XC after a 9 years! Great support out on the course for our runners, and of course everybody taking part. Everybody was delighted to watch some brilliant racing in all the events, but a highlight for everybody was of course seeing Olympian Callum Hawkins tear by chasing Central AC in the senior men’s event. Scottish Athletics race report is available, with a link to the provisional results. We’re very grateful for the work by Scottish Athletics, all the volunteers and marshals for making the event another great success. Many thanks too to the Bellas who helped with setup, home baking, cleanup, team management and support on the day. The trombone was an interesting innovation from Henry too. We’ll pass on any feedback to him 🙂 A few pics below, plenty more on our club social media groups too. Thanks to Kevin Queenan, Alan Digweed, Elle Tea and others for the pics.
Well done to the 48 Bella members who competed in the second club 3k track race on Wednesday 24 April. Even though many of us are busy preparing for Spring marathons right now, there were some fantastic performances on the track in windy conditions. The runners were enthusiastically cheered on by fellow Bellas before everyone went inside for a post-race debrief over sandwiches and cake. We were delighted to welcome Jimmy Irvine at the event who, together with his wife Sandra, were awarded honorary life membership of the club. Jimmy remains as enthusiastic about running and generous in his support for the club as ever. Congratulations to all the runners who took part and a big thank you to everyone who helped with the organisation. Please let us know if you have any ideas for future club race evenings.
Bellahouston Mob Match 2019 – Road Runners triumph for the 3rd year in a row 🏆 Both clubs had a fantastic morning at Pollok parkrun with a magnificent 60 Bellahouston Road Runners and 56 Bellahouston Harriers taking part. It was the closest contest yet, with one runner making all the difference. Thanks to all who came along to run, volunteer and support both clubs, and also to everyone at Pollok parkrun for making us feel so welcome 💜💙 The full results for Pollok parkrun event #521 are available. You can read more about the rules and organisation of the Mob match on our post “Organising the Bellahouston Mob Match“, which has now been updated with the stats from the 2019 incarnation! The breakdown: 60 Road Runners v 56 Harriers, so a total of 116 members. So the Road Runners ‘won’ attendance. 1st, 2nd and 3rd males were Harriers, so the Harriers won the mens on a 3-to-count basis (Harriers 6pts vs RR 30pts). (This is using positions from the published parkrun results at 2.30pm) 1st female was visiting Jennifer Wetton from Central AC (who won the 2018 Jimmy Irvine 10k), The Harriers first female was 3rd overall female. The Road runner ladies were closely packed thereafter, so the Road runners won the ladies on a 3-to-count basis (Harriers 25pts vs RR 20pts, using Ladies finish positions). Ditto published results. Based on overall finishing position scoring for smallest club attendance (Harriers had 56, so 53 counting positions), the Road Runners ‘won’ (defended) bragging rights, and the main trophy. However it was by any measure the closest result yet, with just 24 point difference, which is really just a one runner difference in terms of points.
Danny just put together a list of ’13 Good Things about the Stirling 10K’. We needed to share, so you all know what they are…. It’s Flat It’s true to its word. My Garmin says the elevation gain is 43 metres. That means those of you who live in a house probably climb something like this going to bed. Those who live in a flat, I suppose it depends what floor you live on, but you get my point. It’s not Sherbrooke hills Van with real coffee machine Parked right near the start. It had a van with a built in proper coffee machine. We arrived early and got espressos, cappuccinos, and americanos (easier to get your heart rate up than doing strides). Richard got a snickers bar. Lots of Bellas Twenty in all. We had a great time. Where were you? You got half a pint of milk at the end (instead of a medal although see point 7) Means you don’t have to stop on the way home to get milk. Or you could drink it as the perfect recovery drink it is. (Check the ingredients of those expensive recovery drinks – they are just milk, with unhealthy stuff added). And lets face it you have too many medals hanging all over the place. Milk is better. Harry entertained us with his superhero impersonations. Kenny and Julia brought Harry. Harry is 3 years old. He is a superhero. Be like Harry. It’s the Scottish 10k championship too True. It is. It’s also in the Bella Roadrunner Club Champs. Bella ladies win Scottish medals. Again. Our ladies brought back the bounty. Louise Ross and Emer Campbell picked up National Silver and Bronze medals in the V40 category and Shona Donnelly won V50 Bronze. Bella men ran too. Bella’s got PBs Hard training pays off. Also see point 1. And in Richard’s case also see point 2. Richard and Sarah Jane both got a 10k PB. Purple arch at the start Roz liked the purple arch. Roz is mara training so she paced Sara-Jane. Be like Roz. Good weather It was a bit windy but sometimes it was behind you. (Ok, Ok, no it wasn’t. You always had a head wind even though we changed direction all the time). And it was surprisingly humid conditions. But it did not rain until we all finished. So I suppose weather was OK. Maybe fix the weather. Well organised There are no queues for the toilets (well only a small queue sometimes), there are more toilets in the sports centre, it had just the right amount of runners, there are loads of marshals and they are really nice, staff in the sport centre were helpful, you can park very close to the start, the finish line is really well organised, It’s not crowded, did I mention you get milk no medal, although Shona, Louise and Emer did. Scenery is nice There is a bit when you are running down a straight track and […]